Historical NATO meeting: The summit of submissiveness

How do you best explain what NATO is? Maybe like this: it is a club in which the effort that is operated is always huge. And the use does not always be visible immediately. This applies not only to the defense of the alliance area, for armaments projects and maneuvers. It also applies to common summit meetings.

Thousands of people have built up multi-purpose halls, built in the blocking systems, posted and paralyzed half a city, for a meeting that is as short as none before: it is enough for a dinner together, a two and a half hour working session and a final text that hardly fills an A4 page.

The effort and yield are often inconvenient at NATO. Why? Because the sentence known from Corona pandemic also applies to defense issues: “There is no glory in prevention.” There is therefore nothing too expensive for the good cause, too complex, too cumbersome – or even too embarrassing.

The good thing is the return to the original purpose of NATO in times of growing Russian threat: support in the case of an enemy attack, as Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasized at the end of the meeting. In this sense, it is also a good thing that the 32 member countries in Haag commit themselves to raise their defense expenditure to at least five percent of their annual economic output by 2035, 3.5 percent for tanks, fighter jets, ammunition and another 1.5 percent for “defense -related infrastructure”. It is a step that Merz rightly calls “historical” in view of the billions of bills and debts behind it. Last but not least, it is a good thing because it keeps US President Donald Trump in a good mood. And in this case, both are closely related.

The good news first: Donald Trump has come until the end, which-as the world knows since the G7 summit from last weekend-is no longer considered a matter of course. And he left no desert insults, at least until these lines are completed. Even Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who rejects the five percent destination for his country, got away with it.

No riot? Right, on the contrary. Trump had fed with Königs, excavated in royal rooms, took a seat in the conference hall alongside NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte and received his homage with half-closed eyes. According to Rutte, the United States had always borne the greatest burden in the alliance. Trump assessed his own contribution to two-thirds of NATO editions, which was of course exaggerated, only half is realistic, but also too much. But, promised Rutte: “That will change today.” And above all, it was thanks to Donald Trump’s “Leadership” that it would happen, Rutte continued.

Trump knew all of this for a long time, not only because everyone kept telling him. The day before, he received an SMS from the NATO Secretary General, which is benevolently described with the word “submissive”. Trump, Rutte, had done, which “no American president” had yet achieved. It was a great success and so on and so mucus.

In terms of submissiveness, all NATO partners have stood out. Everything revolved around Trump: what he wants, what he says, how he does, what he means – and how long it applies. “It is very difficult to interpret Trump,” said government circles. It was not much more than that doesn’t stay, it was said to be a little self-critical: “We are all a little too caught in the Trump fixation.”

It would be easily overlooked the historical steps, which this summit in advance. Chancellor Friedrich Merz tried to counter the eternal Trump fixation with his input statement. Today’s decisions are “not made to do someone a favor,” says Merz, but “for his own knowledge, out of his own conviction”. NATO, especially its European part, has to do more in the coming years “to secure its own defense capacity.” Investments in your own security, freedom and ultimately your own prosperity are. The message to all potential enemies must be unmistakable, says Merz: “Don’t pick up a fight with nato” – do not dare to attack NATO.

For some European NATO countries, the five percent goal should still be extremely challenging. Spain is by no means alone. Merz could obtain the debate about this tomorrow in Brussels at the European Council, because some see the solution to the emerging money worries in Eurobonds, i.e. a joint debts – a project that Germany has always rejected. For Merz, NATO’s reorganization only begins with today, it should not continue as before, only with more money. All processes and projects would have to be tested.

“Whatever IT Takes,” said the Chancellor recently. Which of course said more easily, after making the old Bundestag loosen the debt brake for defense spending – every euro above one percent of annual economic output may now be financed by loan without being counted towards the national debt ratio.

He had asked himself more often in the past few days, reported Merz, where we stood, “if we hadn’t made this decision” what he should have said here today. He was certain: “The day today would have been pretty different.” He would have ended in a dispute almost safely. Instead, Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil had already announced in Berlin on Monday that Germany wanted to achieve the 3.5 percent goal even earlier than required, not only in 2029.

Former Bremser, today nerd – and in between only a change in the Basic Law and a break. Merz admitted to the Hague “a lot of credit” for this decision.

In this respect, the warning of the US President would be as unnecessary as Ruttes slime SMS. It was rated as “at least not helpful” in the district of the E3. In the trio from Germany, France and Great Britain, it was said: to blame that Trump immediately published it.

Merz himself had at least briefly the opportunity to speak to the US President. Both use the few minutes between the family photo and the working session for exchange. Merz had made it clear, he reported that Trump’s commitment to Middle East now also needed in relation to Russia. Pressure, harder sanctions, only that would understand Putin, only that would force him to the negotiating table.

And Trump? He was the largest ally in Europe, said the US President in the internal working session. You can rely on that, at least for the next four years.